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My cousin needs a laptop for real basic usage: general internet browsing (including video streaming) and word processing/powerpoint etc. Obviously he doesn't need a supercomputer but I'm leery of going all the way down to a super cheapo laptop. He lives in bumfuck nowhere so internet is not always available which means chromebooks are a no-go. Suggestions?
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Apr 10, 2014 03:16
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AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Jan 22, 2016 |
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Apr 10, 2014 05:58
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Do Not Resuscitate posted:It looks like the end is nigh for the Sony VAIO line which is being sold off to a private equity firm. VAIOs will probably continue to be sold in Japan for a while, but US sales will be discontinued. The deal is still not completed and comes after an acquisition of the line by Lenovo fell thru. They're all just dumb ULV tablet hybrids now anyway. 
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Apr 10, 2014 07:58
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Do Not Resuscitate posted:It looks like the end is nigh for the Sony VAIO line which is being sold off to a private equity firm. VAIOs will probably continue to be sold in Japan for a while, but US sales will be discontinued. The deal is still not completed and comes after an acquisition of the line by Lenovo fell thru. Kind of a sad end for the only laptops Steve Jobs thought were worth putting OS X on. I still love my Vaio Z12.
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Apr 10, 2014 09:59
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I wonder what computers they'll use in Bond films now.
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Apr 10, 2014 13:32
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DrDork posted:Wait another month or so to let all the lineups refresh with the 8xx series GPUs and you'll have a lot more options. Things like the Gigabyte P34Gv2 and the inevitable plethora of models from Clevo/Sager/etc. should be forthcoming. If you need something TODAY, then yes, the GS60/70 is probably one of the best options you'll find. The GS60 (that's the thin ghost one, right) with 860 is available and the 870m is available for pre-order. They're nice but way too expensive. I understand if you want a really thin portable gaming laptop but not worth the $300-500 more for htat. All the MSI/Sager/Asus 8xx series are out and have been for a couple weeks I think? Check out xoticpc I'm about to place an order on a Sager 8268-S. Pretty excited. Was originally going to go with the MSI GT70 Dominator pro but settled on the Sager for multiple reasons (cooling being one of them). Right around $1,500. 16 gigs of RAM, 870m, bought a Samsung EVO to install (Make sure you get the mSATA one) and a 15" screen. The 8278-s is the same exact laptop with 17". The 8258-s is 15" with the 880m instead of the 870m Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 15:27 on Apr 10, 2014 |
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Apr 10, 2014 15:22
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HalloKitty posted:Kind of a sad end for the only laptops Steve Jobs thought were worth putting OS X on. So loving glad that never happened because of how awesome Apples MacBooks ended up being.
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Apr 10, 2014 16:01
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Seamonster posted:I wonder what computers they'll use in Bond films now. Lenovo's have amped up the sex. They look like sleek Darth Vader machines now.
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Apr 10, 2014 16:36
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So with Microsoft reverting Windows 8 back to more and more of how Windows used to be, how long do you think it will take them to drop Modern UI all together (or at least make it completely optional), and how much longer do you guys think touchscreen laptops will still be a thing? I mean, I get the appeal of having a touchscreen, but it seems like it doesn't really add much outside of the Modern UI environment, or any environment not designed for touch for that matter. Most people I know that use Windows 8 barely even use the Modern UI side. They just slap on something like Classic Shell after installation and go on their merry way. It just doesn't seem like touchscreen interfaces are going to continue outside of smartphones and tablets for much longer, in my opinion.
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Apr 10, 2014 17:34
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Rahu X posted:So with Microsoft reverting Windows 8 back to more and more of how Windows used to be, how long do you think it will take them to drop Modern UI all together (or at least make it completely optional), and how much longer do you guys think touchscreen laptops will still be a thing? Microsoft isn't going to give up this fight by any means. They've bet the farm on this One UI to Rule Them All crap
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Apr 10, 2014 17:37
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go3 posted:Microsoft isn't going to give up this fight by any means. They've bet the farm on this One UI to Rule Them All crap Well, we don't know the exact implementation of this because it's not out yet, but Modern UI is going to be pushed even further to the back burner for the next 8.1 on mouse+keyboard systems. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/04/future-windows-8-1-update-will-finally-bring-back-the-start-menu/ Live tiles will be integrated into the traditional start menu. We don't know that the full screen start menu will be going away completely on touchscreen systems or if it can be re-enabled here, but it will certainly be something that will not commonly be seen when working with a keyboard and mouse.
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Apr 10, 2014 17:50
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The thing is (imo) the Surface 2 Pro is loving awesome. I hope that tablet / laptop hybrid form factor matures a little and becomes better.
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Apr 10, 2014 17:56
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Windows 8 works well as a touch interface, so tablets and touch laptops are safe. Nothing wrong with having a start screen on desktops IMO. Reading up on this thread above, so I'm curious. Recommend a gaming laptop? Budget is around 2k. I'm currently thinking about the new MSI Ghost or the "New" Razer Blade 14. I would prefer to stay around a 14 inch screen since that will help with battery life a bit. The New Razer Blade has the higher resolution screen compared to the regular iteration. Worried about heat, though. Touch screen is a must since I'm sure Win 8 will be on whatever I get. Basically I like the portability and power behind the MSI Ghost and the New Razer Blade 14 and both are also stylish looking devices. I plan on playing games like EU4, Civ V, Stick of Truth, maybe Skyrim, etc. I don't need to or plan on playing Metro LL or Bioshock Infinite at 1080 maxed out or anything but if I can play Witcher 3 on scrub settings that would be nice. Basically don't want to buy something that will be somewhat obsolete by the end of the year, especially at $2k. I'll have my work laptop with me as well, but it's an older Dell with a dedicated GPU. It's just big and bulky, heavy, etc, and is a hassle to use in cramped spaces like airplanes. Considering the decent performance of the Intel Iris hardware if Apple gets off their butts and announces a new MacBook I'd even consider that if that's not too crazy an idea. Thoughts? I can budge on some of my "wants". It doesn't HAVE to be super slim if I can find something that's still fairly sleek but not MacBook/Razer thin and has a nice price reduction or something similar in its favor. Disc drives are unneeded. ed Looking at the above mentioned Sager. That may be a good option for me as well. The Dave posted:The thing is (imo) the Surface 2 Pro is loving awesome. I hope that tablet / laptop hybrid form factor matures a little and becomes better. I was really leaning on getting a hybrid but none of them have anything more than an Intel 4400. I would REALLY like to get a Surface Pro 2 but I think my cut off date of Sept 2014 will prevent me from getting in on any hardware refreshes quick enough. Zuhzuhzombie!! fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Apr 10, 2014 |
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Apr 10, 2014 19:06
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I really like my touchscreen (I only use Desktop mode for the record) but I think part of its appeal is touchpads getting worse and worse. Even with a mouse though it's kind of nice to have in some situations but I wouldn't use it as a primary input device.
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Apr 10, 2014 23:43
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Girlfriend is looking for a new sub-notebook for college to replace her dieing Asus netbook. She wants something that is around 11,6", definitely below 13", has at least 6h of battery. She needs it for CS so it needs to run Office but it should also be able to handle Eclipse/Netbeans in a reasonable fashion. Oh yeah and it should be <600€, preferably even <500€. After some research the Thinkpad Edge E130 seems to be pretty close to what she wants but it still sports an Ivy Bridge processor (i3-3227U). Is there anything with a Haswell that comes close?
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Apr 11, 2014 10:29
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Sereri posted:Girlfriend is looking for a new sub-notebook for college to replace her dieing Asus netbook. Is she against using a tablet hybrid? Do you want haswell specifically for battery life? Some AMD netbooks out there will good battery life. I was thinking of grabbing one of these as well. Still on the fence on anything, though. Is SLI really something worth doing on a laptop or will it absolutely kill my battery life? http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/?tt=ufadfw
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Apr 11, 2014 14:34
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Sereri posted:Girlfriend is looking for a new sub-notebook for college to replace her dieing Asus netbook. Would something like the ASUS T100 work? I have one of the things and for the price they are quite honestly fantastic, I have gone 10 hours to a charge if I need to.
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Apr 11, 2014 15:54
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What's the deal with Best Buy exclusively selling so many Toshiba laptops? Someone pointed out that they'd purchased a Toshiba Satellite E55-A114 recently, so I searched for it and came up with the Toshiba Satellite E55-A5114, a laptop that seemed to be available nowhere else but through Best Buy (there was a "Only At Best Buy" tag on a majority of the Satellite laptops they had available as well). Did these two companies strike a deal a while ago? Is there anything to be concerned about by this fact?
IAmKale fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 01:14
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Lenovo sells a bunch of "-B" models; they are the same as the regular Ideapads, but missing features like bluetooth, high res screens, typically an i3 (where you can only get the i5 and i7 through their website), etc Best Buy sells enough laptops they can have their own low-spec models that they can sell to consumers at the same price who don't have as wide of a choice.
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Apr 12, 2014 02:13
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Hadlock posted:Best Buy sells enough laptops they can have their own low-spec models that they can sell to consumers at the same price who don't have as wide of a choice. The RAM on that laptop is not user replaceable, is there a way to tell if they've wired it up as two sticks of 3GB RAM or one stick of 6GB RAM? Does that matter anymore?
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Apr 12, 2014 03:27
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Karthe posted:is there a way to tell if they've wired it up as two sticks of 3GB RAM or one stick of 6GB RAM? Does that matter anymore? Only if you're doing high frequency trading from your laptop (no)
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Apr 12, 2014 04:24
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Hadlock posted:Only if you're doing high frequency trading from your laptop (no)  ). Now I just have to order a 4GB stick of RAM and an SSD and I'll have the perfect laptop 
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Apr 12, 2014 04:36
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After my beloved ThinkPad T42 gave it's soul, I'm looking for worthy successor of it. I loved the build quality, overall comfort of using the keyboard and trackpad. Too bad the T430, which caught my eye after reccomendation from op has a really hefty price tag here (c. 800$ for new, 700$ for used from company). What are older T's worth looking for to buy from second hand?
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Apr 12, 2014 10:45
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laserghost posted:After my beloved ThinkPad T42 gave it's soul, I'm looking for worthy successor of it. I loved the build quality, overall comfort of using the keyboard and trackpad. Too bad the T430, which caught my eye after reccomendation from op has a really hefty price tag here (c. 800$ for new, 700$ for used from company). What are older T's worth looking for to buy from second hand? Any of the earlier generations: the T420, T420s, T410, T410s, T520, T510. (Or W520 or W510.) You'll be disappointed by how short the screen feels, even with the 15" models. Edit: The models with nice screens are the W or T520, T510 with 1920x1080 screens (they have 95% NTSC color gamut and good viewing angles). Be sure to get 1600x900 or 1440x900 on the T4xx models, try to get 1920x1080 on the T5xx or W5xx models, but 1600x900 would be okay in that circumstance. Edit: Also the X220 and X201 exist. shrughes fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 13:49
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Much thanks, will give a good look at specs/prices of those! T520 looks especially interesting.
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Apr 12, 2014 14:37
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So yes, I'm going to ask a gaming laptop question, but I live on a boat and don't have room for a desktop--I'd love to build my own, but so it goes. The marina itself uses hotspot wifi that is, for the most part, pretty good. It is my only option, though, so while my understanding of graphics cards and processors is alright, I don't know much about wireless cards. I didn't even realize I had to update the driver for my current one until yesterday. What kind of criteria should I be setting, and what defines a cutting-edge wireless card? I know a decade ago I had a laptop that had a slot for plugging them in but it seems like these days they're all onboard and thusly less easily upgradable. The main reason I ask is while I'm kinda growing out of my "play shittons of MMOs" phase, I am looking forward to playing Landmark with my little brother (who I'll probably be asking other questions on behalf of later, I'm trying to bribe him into taking an extra quarter off to pursue job stuff. Long story.) and it's probably what I'm going to base my graphics/processor/etc needs around, so that'll be easy enough to figure out on my own. EDIT: I'm looking at different "gaming laptops" and jesus these things are so ugly and/or ostentatious. Lit keyboards? Backlit touchpad emblems? Casing that looks like they were made from the carapace of some dire insect? Ugh. Trebuchet King fucked around with this message at 19:02 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 18:27
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That Lenovo B&N link in the OP is dead.
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Apr 12, 2014 20:48
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Trebuchet King posted:EDIT: I'm looking at different "gaming laptops" and jesus these things are so ugly and/or ostentatious. Lit keyboards? Backlit touchpad emblems? Casing that looks like they were made from the carapace of some dire insect? Ugh. As for wireless cards, the laptop industry is in a bit of an uncomfortable place. Intel's cards have always been the go-to models, and still are if you don't need -AC; in that case pick the Ultimate 6300 and you're done. If you do want something that supports AC, though, the current top offering from Intel is the 7260, which has been plagued by various hard-to-track-down issues on some (but not all) laptops, making it harder to recommend. However, there aren't a lot of good alternate options, either. Things like the Killer series of wifi cards are highly unlikely to make any noticeable difference (especially in a MMO), so don't pay extra money for them. If you're given the option, more antennas is more better: i.e., a card listed as "3x3" will generally give better performance at longer distances than the same card with a "2x2" setup.
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Apr 12, 2014 21:26
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The 7260 was giving me a lot of poo poo but it seems to be fixed now with the latest drivers, it was horribly frustrating and unfixable back in December but it's OK now. Note that the issues also were limited to single-band 2.4ghz routers in N mode, which are pretty common but not entirely universal.
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Apr 12, 2014 22:31
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:The 7260 was giving me a lot of poo poo but it seems to be fixed now with the latest drivers, it was horribly frustrating and unfixable back in December but it's OK now. Note that the issues also were limited to single-band 2.4ghz routers in N mode, which are pretty common but not entirely universal. Has Intel actually worked out the issues with the 7260AC? I still need to get a new laptop, but I've had nothing but poo poo luck with Lenovo's wireless cards and changing my router isn't an option as its my landlord's (ISP-provided) router and she's married to keeping it. Edit: I mean fixed the issue besides setting the card to G-only as that isn't actually fixing anything. Nickelodeon Household fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 22:53
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Didn't bookmark and forgot I posted here.  Zuhzuhzombie!! posted:Is she against using a tablet hybrid? Do you want haswell specifically for battery life? Some AMD netbooks out there will good battery life. R0ckfish posted:Would something like the ASUS T100 work? I have one of the things and for the price they are quite honestly fantastic, I have gone 10 hours to a charge if I need to. Haswell because of the battery life and because "new is always better™". For Intel anyway, I gave up on AMD a while ago and have no idea what the equivalent to a ~2Ghz i3 haswell ULV is. That would probably be fine too. As for touch, she doesn't want it but it wouldn't disqualify something if the rest is ok, she's just not use it.
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Apr 12, 2014 22:53
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spregalia posted:Has Intel actually worked out the issues with the 7260AC? I still need to get a new laptop, but I've had nothing but poo poo luck with Lenovo's wireless cards and changing my router isn't an option as its my landlord's (ISP-provided) router and she's married to keeping it.  If you won't be using the AC side of the card, you could always just stick with the Ultimate 6300 for a tried-and-true solution, instead.
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Apr 12, 2014 23:02
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shrughes posted:Any of the earlier generations: the T420, T420s, T410, T410s, T520, T510. (Or W520 or W510.) You'll be disappointed by how short the screen feels, even with the 15" models. Anything wrong with the t440? The wife and I have old t40s that are on their last legs. I've got a more recent desktop, so I'm thinking of replacing mine with a yoga 2 pro or something similar, but the laptop she replaces hers with will be her only machine. We both love the durability, keyboard, and trackpoints that we've grown accustomed to. Was thinking the t440 or t540 probably fit the bill the best, but maybe the updated x1 carbon should be on the list?
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Apr 13, 2014 02:23
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Okay, when I get home I'll try and do some research based on that info. I might have to follow up again though, 'cause a lot of that was greek to me. Much obliged though, having a starting point makes the whole thing much less daunting.
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Apr 13, 2014 02:43
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After a bit of hands-on with the T440s, I decided to get a ZBook 14, and I'm super happy with it so far. Looks great, feels great, 1080p screen. I haven't really put it through its paces yet, but if anyone has any questions about it as an alternative, I'd be happy to try to answer.
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Apr 13, 2014 02:51
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Trebuchet King posted:So yes, I'm going to ask a gaming laptop question, but I live on a boat and don't have room for a desktop--I'd love to build my own, but so it goes. You can buy a custom built business class laptop with almost the same poo poo as those crappy ostentatious models through either Dell or Lenovo. It is going to cost you more but you will end up with a decent machine for gaming with the bonus of having some mill-spec components considering your somewhat out in the elements.
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Apr 13, 2014 04:23
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system protocol posted:You can buy a custom built business class laptop with almost the same poo poo as those crappy ostentatious models through either Dell or Lenovo. It is going to cost you more but you will end up with a decent machine for gaming with the bonus of having some mill-spec components considering your somewhat out in the elements. A T430/530 tops out at the 730M level. I doubt that's going to cut it. You can get a Quadro K2100M in the W but it's enormously expensive and still only equivalent to a 750M
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Apr 13, 2014 05:09
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The Latitude E6540 has a decent GPU. Heck, the Latitude 15 3000 series can have a pretty good GPU.
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Apr 13, 2014 06:14
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shrughes posted:The Latitude E6540 has a decent GPU. Heck, the Latitude 15 3000 series can have a pretty good GPU. I guess this is going to depend on locality but where I am the E6540 with the 8790M is extremely pricey (and apparently it's still only around a 750M in gaming performance)
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Apr 13, 2014 06:56
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shrughes posted:The Latitude E6540 has a decent GPU. Heck, the Latitude 15 3000 series can have a pretty good GPU. My buddy got that Latitude. The GPU is a 8850M and is better than a 750m but you will never see it because its bogged down by the weak CPU. Still a lot of GPU for the $600 he paid. Be warned that there is no HDMI out though.
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Apr 13, 2014 07:13
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